HONOLULU – The top-ranked University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team seeks to defend its Big West Championship this week. The tournament runs Thursday, April 20 through Saturday, April 22 at the Bren Center in Irvine, Calif. The Rainbow Warriors (26-2) are the tournament's No. 1 seed and will receive a bye into the semifinals, where they will meet the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal match between fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara and fifth-seeded UC San Diego. Match time is 5:00 p.m. PT (2:00 p.m. HT).
 

MATCH #29
What				2023 Outrigger Resorts Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands
Who				No. 1-seed Hawai'i (26-2) vs. No. 4-seed UC Santa Barbara (8-16)
Date | Time				Friday, April 21, 5:00 p.m. PT (2:00 p.m. HT)
Location				Irvine, Calif. — Bren Center
Television				Spectrum Sports. Kanoa Leahey (play-by-play) and Chris McLachlin (analyst).
Live Stream				ESPN+ (blacked out in Hawai'i).
Radio				ESPN Honolulu (1420AM/92.7FM). Tiff Wells (play-by-play).
Streaming Audio				ESPNHonolulu.com; Sideline Hawaii app.
Live Stats				HawaiiAthletics.com
Game Notes				Hawai'i | Championship Central
Digital Program				Click here
Social Media				@HawaiiMensVB  | #HawaiiMVB #WarriorBall23 | @HawaiiMVB  | Facebook

FIRST SERVE

• Hawai'i (26-2, 9-1 BWC) enters the Big West Championship as the tournament's No. 1 seed for the second time (2021).
• UH has a bye into Friday's semifinals and will play the winner of Thursday's quarterfinal match between fourth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (7-16) and fifth-seeded UC San Diego (8-16). Friday's semifinal match is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT (2:00 p.m. HT).
• UH is 5-2 all-time in four previous Big West Championship appearances having captured the title twice (2019 and '22) and finished runner-up once (2018).
• Hawai'i is 3-1 in semifinal round matches with its only loss to UC San Diego in 2021, which was the only other time UH was the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
• UH swept the season series with both UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego. The Warriors won both matches against the Gauchos in straight sets and closed the regular season with a pair of wins (one in straight sets and one in four sets) against the Tritons.
• UH head coach Charlie Wade has a 9-8 record in conference tournaments (MPSF and Big West) having advanced to the championship match four times with two titles.
• UH's 26 wins this season is the fifth-most in program history and the most ever in the regular season. The single-season wins record is 28 set in 2019. Previously the most regular season wins was 25 in 2019.
• UH enters the tournament with a nine-match win streak.
• UH has won its last 19 neutral site matches dating back to 2016 with its last loss in the 2015 NCAA Championship quarterfinals to Penn State.